...And did you know Japan has four seasons?

[spacealien_vamp]

The superintendant sent me another bag of vegetables today. Luckily it's a small one. I may actually be able to finish it.

In one of my classes this morning, the students were assigned to write a letter to an (imaginary) person and explain either their family, school, city, or some aspect of Japanese culture.

Student: Japan has four seasons. Does that count as culture?

Me: ^_^;

Yes, they're REALLY proud of the four seasons here. (I suggested she write about what Japanese people DO during one of the seasons, like flower-viewing.)

I also found out that two of my team teachers will be gone this Friday, so that means two solo lessons. But I'm going to some international exchange ceremony thing next Friday, so I guess we're even.

Update: While I was going to the post office to mail mangaroo's present (a manga cover)...
I decided to take pictures of some of the flowers along the way for potential use as embroidery designs.

I wound up taking so many that I thought it would be worth putting them all together in a collage and sharing.

Comments

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

...And did you know Japan has four seasons?
*gasp* No! Why, in Michigan, we only have...wait, four.

The flowers are pretty! but I feel cheated because the manga cover is so tiny. I want a better look at it. :(

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

The flowers are pretty!

Thanks! Now I have to work on trying to draw them...

I feel cheated because the manga cover is so tiny. I want a better look at it.

Sorry. I had my phone on email photo mode for that one. But there really isn't much more to see.

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

I feel cheated because the manga cover is so tiny.
I feel cheated because now I know what my flat, cloth, useful present is. It's a manga cozy! Where's the surprise, the anticipation, the 210 questions? I haven't earned it! I am not worthy. However, I will take huge pictures when it arrives, both off and on manga. (I don't want to pre-thank vampy, because I want to squeal with excitement when it gets here.)

And I also feel cheated because...no, wait, I chose Berkeley because it has only one and a half seasons. My letter would describe the way the Japanese decorate urban areas to accentuate and extend the seasons (of which they have four). I've only been there for three (so I'm just taking them at their word when they say they have a fourth), and in summer I was too hot excited about being in Japan for my FIRST TIME EVER to notice if they spruced the place up with summer garlands; however, every fall and spring, Tokyo decks itself out in maple leaves and cherry blossoms (respective to the season). Fake ones. Which is both sweet and a little sad, to think of all these nature lovers crammed into that urban landscape with only a silk maple leaf to channel their autumn energy. Oops. I made myself sad.

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I feel cheated because now I know what my flat, cloth, useful present is. It's a manga cozy! Where's the surprise, the anticipation, the 210 questions?

I went through all the trouble of putting it under a cut tag so it would be hidden. You have only your itchy clicky finger to blame.

Ah, but it's not JUST a manga cozy. It can also double as a beginner Go board when you finish the manga you were reading and have nothing else to do.

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

Beautiful flowers! We don't have nearly that many flowers in New England yet. (Then again, we've been having the suckiest spring on record. I haven't been able to go out on the porch in a couple of weeks now, and we're setting record after record for cold in May.)

That's such a great idea, about having the students describe what people do in the four seasons -- the seasons become so culture-specific then. I'm constantly fascinated by seasonal cues in manga, because the activities associated with them are often so different from what I would think of. Even the same holidays (Christmas, Valentine's Day) are celebrated differently. Plus the whole school year starting in fall thing.

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

Really! FOUR?!? Four whole different seasons?? Who would have thought - Well, I would certainly have traveled halfway around the world for that, wouldn't you?? ;-) Oh yeah, you did! hehehehe

Gorgeous flowers! I'm sure they will be inspirational in some way. I can vouch for sara_tanaquil's statement that this is the coldest spring on record here in New England (and after such a nice couple of weeks in April too!)

The manga cover is such a cute idea (plus then you don't have to worry about the pretty boys-in-love more unusual covers when going out). Did you have a pattern for that or was it a make-it-up-as-you-go scenario?

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Well, I would certainly have traveled halfway around the world for that, wouldn't you?? ;-) Oh yeah, you did!

Yep, that's what drew me here. I found the four seasons irresistable. <snerk>

Did you have a pattern for that or was it a make-it-up-as-you-go scenario?

I had a pattern for a rather more plain bunko book cover. I modified it to have a different design and so that it would fit manga.

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

Why aren't you figuring out how to embroider bunnies?

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Why aren't you figuring out how to embroider bunnies?

I will...there just aren't any around the neighborhood for me to take pictures of.

Oddly, there are peacocks, but no bunnies.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

But manga bunnies would make better embroidery patterns anyway, right(since you need simple and cartoony)? And surely that's easier than wandering the neighborhood looking for bunnies.

Of course, if you want a real bunny picture, there's always google.

*gets distracted by bunny pictures*

Uh...yeah. Bunnies. Or...something.

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

I have bunnies in my yard in summer. Or I would, if Ptolemy wouldn't keep killing them all. One summer he slaughtered a whole family of them, one by one. I felt like I was witnessing the murder of Peter Rabbit and his whole clan. It was very traumatic. (Spoiler cut to protect wednesday_10_00 and other bunny lovers from trauma due to gory details.)

I wonder if the bunnies will come back now that Ptolemy will have to stay inside all summer?

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

Oh, that wasn't even gory. I've lived with cats my whole life, remember. I could tell you stories of the things our hunters used to bring back. It's sad, but them's the facts when you have outdoor cats. (And that's just another reason I'm glad the cats I have now are indoor cats.)

I wonder if the bunnies will come back now that Ptolemy will have to stay inside all summer?
Do you have a vegetable garden?

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

I just didn't want you to be caught unprepared reading about bunny death over your morning coffee. ^_^;

Yeah, the one thing I will NOT miss now that I'm keeping Ptolemy in is the fresh rodent corpses on the bathroom mat in the morning. He was always so polite about offering to share.

I did one year, but lately it's been hard because I haven't been organized enough to get the patch cleared and planted before June, and mid-June is really too late to be starting a garden. I might do herbs this year, they don't care how many months of growing time they get.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

Well, I appreciate the thought. Sometimes it bothers me more than others. (Like, did you ever see Save Toby? I know it's just a joke, but it still makes me want to cry.)

He was always so polite about offering to share.
Hee! It's so sweet, the way cats bring their gory little offerings.

Wednesday gives the best offerings, though. Since she doesn't have any real prey to bring us, she brings us her toys instead. Her favorite thing is to drag her stick (you know, the kind with a string tied on) around at night. If it's upstairs, she'll drag it down, and if it's downstairs, she'll drag it up. And she cries the whole time. (LOOK WHAT I DID! AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME??) It's too adorable.

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

Since she doesn't have any real prey to bring us, she brings us her toys instead.

Ptolemy used to do that... he's gotten too fat and lazy adult and sophisticated to do it now. But he does sometimes still bring his toys to my bed, or to the food bowl. What, is nylon fluff going to become more edible if you put it in a bowl?

He only ever did the proud crying for real prey, though. >.< That was how I knew to watch my step in the morning.

[wrenwyn.livejournal.com]

I will never look at Ptolemy the same way again.

(=^.^=)

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

But manga bunnies would make better embroidery patterns anyway, right(since you need simple and cartoony)? And surely that's easier than wandering the neighborhood looking for bunnies.

They would...but I'm trying to cut down on the amount of reference material I lug back and forth to school with me. So I'm practicing first on things that I can have snapshots of on my keitai, since I take that with me anyway.

Downloading a bunch of pictures onto my laptop for reference is another option, but if I were to take my laptop to school it would dominate my desk and leave me no room to draw, so I'm waiting for the weekend to do that.

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thinking real bunnies. I think some of the line drawings of usa-san and other characters would make great subjects. I've collected fabrics to do characters in applique, but was going to try to tackle Jinjyuu first ...

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thinking real bunnies. I think some of the line drawings of usa-san and other characters would make great subjects.

I definitely want to try making patterns from characters. ...I suppose this means I will have to buy more volumes, since my current supply of scanables is quite limited.